


Forgotten Farewells

by rangerhitomi



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-04
Updated: 2013-09-04
Packaged: 2017-12-25 15:29:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/954760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangerhitomi/pseuds/rangerhitomi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Nasch died six hundred years ago... He should have stayed that way."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forgotten Farewells

The moment the duel ends, he rips off his D-Gazer and sprints to the cloaked figure lying in a heap on the rocky ground. His voice is high, frantic, terrified, how can this be? after all we’ve been through together, amplified by the silence. He drops to his knees and picks him up by the shoulders – the Barian Lord, the leader, the former king from hundreds of years ago–

-his best friend, the amazing duelist, the lonely middle school boy–

-and the Barian opens his eyes, the same vivid blue, with the same soft expression he reserves only for Yuma.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, and his body shakes in Yuma’s arms, his fingers gingerly pressed to the gem on his chest. It’s a faded blue, now, clear blue; not the pulsating red from before, when Don Thousand held his body captive, before they forced Don Thousand out. 

Yuma can’t speak. He pulls his friend’s body closer, clenching fistfuls of his cloak with an iron grip. He doesn’t intend to let go until things are right, until Astral tells him that they can all go home now.

But Astral doesn’t.

“Yuma,” he says, his voice gentle, “we have to go.”

“Not until Shark can stand,” Yuma says stubbornly, ignoring the sudden anguish in Shark’s eyes – Nasch’s? _No, he’ll always be Shark_ – because he knows what’s going to happen and he won’t accept it.

“Yuma, Shark… Nasch… can’t-”

“He’s not Nasch, he’s Shark!” and Yuma knows he’s being unreasonable, he’s being selfish, because he wanted Shark, he _needed_ Shark, and at the same time, the Barians…

…well, they needed him too, and they had him first, and they probably loved him as much as Yuma did, and what right did he have to take him away from them after they had been searching for so long?

“Yuma,” Astral tries again, sounding hurt, and Yuma feels guilty because he knows that Astral cares about Shark too, and he’d proven that he would risk death so Shark could be free and live. “We have to…”

“Go.” This time it’s Nasch who speaks, lifting a clawed hand to Yuma’s face. It’s cold and rough, and Yuma bitterly wants to feel Shark’s soft human touch, not this…

… _monster._

No, he’s not a monster.

He’s Ryoga Kamishiro, he’s _Shark_ , and Yuma pulls him even closer, unable to keep the tears from dripping onto Nasch’s face – Shark’s face – as he presses their foreheads together. The skin on his forehead feels like sandpaper, but Yuma can’t bring himself to care.

“Go,” Shark says again, but he slides Yuma's hand to his chest and presses it there. There's no heartbeat. “You have to go before it closes,” but his voice is weak and reluctant.

“Not without you.”

“I have no place in your world anymore.”

Yuma feels the pain of this in his heart as though Shark had clenched it with his clawed hand. He shakes his head, feels the roughness of Shark’s skin rubbing his forehead.

Shark pulls away from Yuma’s body, shakily rolling himself onto his knees. Yuma’s still gripping his robes. He takes Yuma’s hands, holds them, and gives a weak Barian smile, his eyes crinkling upward a bit. They’re filled with tears now.

_So Barians can cry too._

“Nasch died six hundred years ago,” he whispers. “He should have stayed that way. Ryoga Kamishiro should never have existed.”

“ _Stop it_!” Yuma all but screams, wrenching his hand free and pounding his fist against Shark’s chest. “Don’t you- don’t you _say_ things like that!”

“I’m not human, Yuma.”

“Yes… yes you are! You’re _Shark_ , you’re my best friend-”

“I’m not human,” he repeats. “And as much as I…” He shakes his head. “My future lies here, restoring the balance in this world.”

“Stop, stop, _stop_ -” and each word is another punch, weaker than the last, until Yuma is sobbing in Shark’s arms.

“Yuma.” Astral’s voice is urgent now. “The portal is closing.”

There’s panic in Yuma’s chest now, and he pulls at Shark, who shakes his head and gives Yuma a little push. “Go. This is my world now. This is my home.” He wipes at his face with his sleeve and takes Yuma’s hand again, struggling to his feet and pulling Yuma with him. “You have your own home. You have your own life to live.”

Yuma fights Shark’s grip, struggles and whines _no, no, no_ over and over and over as Shark pulls him to the portal-

-and pushes him in it.

Yuma can feel his body disappearing but can do nothing to stop it. He gazes at the cloaked figure, standing with clenched fists in front of him, confused, hurt, _why would you push me away; can’t you tell what you mean to me?_

“I’ve wished for so long that things could be different.”

“No-”

Another smile, and he reaches out his hand. Yuma reaches out to him, but his hand is vanishing and they can no longer touch. “ _Kattobingu_ , Yuma. I won’t forget you.”

\---

Yuma wakes up, the air cold, to worried voices and cold hands and someone hugging him and the sound of sobbing. He’s back-

-where did he go?

There’s a flash of light in the sky, a blinding red explosion that causes the person hugging him to gasp and pull back – Kotori, he realizes, and…

“Astral…”

But Astral isn’t there.

_Why, why, why? Where was he? He was right behind me..._

“Astral…? Astral! Astral!”

And through the numbness, the grief, the agony of losing him _again_ -

-he’s missing something else, something that he loves but that’s right out of his reach, on the edge of his memory but hidden in the shadows, and the pain of it is too much for him to take.


End file.
